Hard Work, Long Days for 'Dancing's' Stars
April 2, 2007 — -- If everybody's job was this much fun we'd all come in on Sundays. Ballroom dancing, laughter and no shortage of sweat was the order of the day as the contestants of "Dancing With the Stars" rehearsed their routines in preparation for the next day's live broadcast.
The dance stage is cramped with cameras capturing the action from every conceivable angle. The dancers swing, wiggle and shake their bodies under a haze of sweltering spotlights, which seem to change color at will.
With empty seats and the realization that, for once, a slip or mismatched two-step today will not mean elimination, the atmosphere in the studio is relaxed and jovial. However, beneath the smiles of the stars and their professional dance partners lies a deep-seated desire to take home the mirror ball trophy.
"I don't enter anything hoping to lose," said former "Beverly Hills 90210" star Ian Ziering, who is paired with two-time winner Cheryl Burke.
"Cheryl is an unbelievable teacher and is able to do everything I do, but backwards and in heels," said Ziering, who arrived at the studio on his classic Yamaha sport bike and cut a relaxed figure as he reclined in the Red Room, the holding area for the contestants on show night.
The Sunday rehearsal is a well-organized affair. The stars and their partners arrive throughout the day at 35-minute intervals. They dance on the same stage and with the same music that is beamed to more than 20 million viewers on a Monday night.
The stars have only six days to learn each choreographed dance routine and, as the competition intensifies, this workload will be doubled. Five hours practice a day is the secret behind turning two left feet into sweet feet, though the learning process is not without pitfalls.
"I'm fighting through the mind-numbing pain from Cheryl's heels stepping on my toes," said a smiling Ziering, who uses a digital camera to record the routine and then studies it on his computer when he arrives home.
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